Uncurling guide for sewing machines



Feb. 24, 1942. H. HACKLANDER- 2,274,193

UNCURLING GUIDE FOR SEW ING MACHINES Filed Dec. 9, 1959 Patented Feb.24, 1942 UNCURLING GUmnFon sawino Y MACHINES Y Han Hac l iid nmnd n. N-J; e si o, h

Singer Manufacturing Company, Elizabeth, N. J a ccrperation of NewJersey a Applieaticn Decemben 9, 193.9, Serial No. 308,361

; 10 Claims. (01. 112-20) This invention relates. to fabric guides forsewing machines and more particularly to uncurling. guides for hosieryseaming sewing machines.

In fabric guides of the type in question'as pres viouslyconstructed,,.diificulty was experiencedin properly controlling anddirecting the fabric sec; tions when traversing" portions of varyingthick,- nesses, such as passing from the :body of the stocking to thewelt, thereof: This difficulty" arises from the fact that as the.thickened por: tion of the stocking enters between the central guidingplate-and the uncurlers, the unc'urler's swing outwardly. away from thecentral guiding plate about their pivotal axes of support, which axes ofsupport heretofore have been relatively. close to the lower ends of theuncurlers. As the uncurlers swing away from the central guiding platethey move into positions which areout' of parallelism with the face ofthe central guiding plate. When in this abnormal relation the un'-.curlers engage the stocking at the thickened portion adjacent themarginal edges only-{leav ing the remainder or major part ofthe stockingadjacent the thickened portions uncontrolled:

The uncontrolled section of the stocking fre quently drops slightlybelow the usual edge guiding memben resulting in a variation in thedepth of needle-bite in thestocking, whichef fects materially thequality of high grade hosiery.

fie present invention has for its main objective the provision of anuncurling guide for hosiery seaming machines which will more'effectivelycontroland direct the marginal portions of hosiery sectionatheefliciency or whichfguid e will notbe reduced whentraversing sectionself varying thicknesses. V

A further object of the present invention is to provide an uncurlingguide which, because of its superior design, will give to the operatorgreater visibility in the vicinity ofthe stitching point. A stillfurther object of the present invention istheprovision of an uncurlingguide wherein the pivotal axes of support {or the uncurle'r's have beenpositioned remote frpm the operative; end of the guide whereby thedegree of hen para lelism between the cent al guiding p tean t e nclerswhen tr ve sin th ken d tio s of the ho i r s QiiQns s ed d to a mnimum;

With the above and other objects in view, as; wi l e e r a pea heinvention cam fire the devices, combinations and "arrangements or partshereinaiter set forth and illustrated in the acco pan in d awin 0i a Preemb d m o the invention. immwh ch the se er l features of the inventionand the advantages 'Intheaccompanying drawing, Fig. 1 is a right, sideelevation 01? the upper portion of a sewing machine embodying apreferred form of my invention, .a portion of the machine-frame being"broken away to illustrate the mounting of the uncurling guide.

Fig; 2 is a front elevation of the elements shown "in Fig.1, with thefront feed-cup and shaft therefor removed to clearly illustrateuncurling guide in elevation.

-3 isan enlarged perspective view of the supporting. bracket for theuncurling guide.

Fig. 4 is an enlarged sectional .view of the edge-guiding element of,the uncurling guide taken along the line 4-4, Fig. 2. 1 a

Fig. 5 is an enlarged disassembled perspective view ofthe .uncurlingguide showingthe details of construction of its component parts.

In the embodiment of the invention selected for illustration, myimproved uncurling guide is shown as applied to a so-called cup-feedsewing -machine having a standard I- and an overhangi and other devicesnot shown. Since the sewing machine illustrated in the drawing forms nopart of the present invention, no further description of the same willbe made, except to those parts which have a direct bearing on theuncurling guide: For, a detailed description of the cupfeed machineshown in the drawing, reference may be had to my copending applicationSerial No. 296,031, filed Sept. 22, 1939.

Referring to Fig. 1, it will be observed that within the overhangingbracket 2 the machineframe is provided with a horizontal ledge '6adapted to support for limited lateral adjustment'a right-angle bracket1 towhich is secured for limited vertical adjustment the uncurlingiguide. To provide for the lateral adjustment of the guide, thehorizontal limb of the right-angle bracket 1 is preferably formed withan elongated slot 8 through which passes'a clamping screw 9 threadedinto the ledge 6. The ledge 6 in its upper surface is formed with. aguide-groove.

which is adapted to receive a tongue ID provided in the horizontal limbof the right-anglebracket I, whereby the uncurling guide is constrainedto move transversely of the stitch-line; Secured by a clamping screwllto the vertical limb 'Of'.

the

the right-angle bracket 1 is the usual uncurling guide plate [2 formedwith an offset 13 into which is threaded an adjusting screw I4shouldered to receive the bifurcated projection [5 formed at the lowerend of the vertical limb of the right-angle bracket 1. When it isdesired to raise or lower the uncurling guide the clamping screw II isloosened and the adjusting screw [4 turned the required number of turnsto adjust the guide into the desired position, when the clamping screw His tightened, locking the guide in its adjusted position. The guide isconstrained to move in a vertical line only during this adjustmentthrough the medium of a tongue It on the plate I2 and groove I 1 in thevertical limb of the right-angle bracket 1.

Referring now to Fig. 1, the plate 12 has clamped to its left hand faceby means of a screw I8 a cylindrical boss 19 formed upon a stationarydisk 20. Freely journaled upon the cylindrical boss 19 is the head 21 ofthe usual central guiding plate 22. The head 21, see Fig. 5, is formedwith an ear 23 into which is threaded a fulcrumstud 24 upon which arejournaled the latches 25 and 26 designed to lock the uncurling guide inoperative or inoperative positions. 'The latches 25 and 26 and the abovedescribed pivotal support for the uncurling guide form no part of thepresent invention, those parts being fully described in my copendingapplication Serial No. 303,946, filed Nov. 13, 1939.

The gist of the present invention resides in the construction of thelower or fabric-controlling portion of the guide. The details of thisportion of the guide are best shown in Fig. 5. It will be seen in thisfigure that the central guiding plate 22 terminates at its lower end ina thin bladelike fabric-engaging plate 21 against the opposite faces ofwhich are yieldingly biased two uncurlers 28 and 29 having relativelylong and slender shanks 30 and 3|. The shanks of the uncurlers at theirupper ends are apertured as at 32 and 33, and disposed between thecross-bars 34 and 35 integral with, or otherwise secured to, the centralguiding plate 22, to receive the pivotstuds 36 and 31 threaded into thecross-bar 35. The two uncurlers 28 and 29 are biased into cooperativeclamping relation with the opposed faces of the fabric-engaging plate 21by a U- shaped spring-wire 38 passing through a small hole 39 inthecentral guiding plate 22 adjacent the head thereof. The two free ends ofthe spring-wire 38 enter small depressions 40 in the shanks 30 and 3| ofthe uncurlers. The body or bowed portion of the U-shaped spring-wire 38passes freely through the small clearance hole 39 in the central guidingplate 22, the depending limbs of the spring-wire being arrangedsubstantially in vertical alinement with the shanks 30 and 3| of theuncurlers 28 and 29, see Fig. 2, and relatively long to engage theshanks of the uncurlers at points substantially midway their lengths.With this arrangement a spring can be employed having a high degree offlexibility which is advantageous in that it facilitates spreading ofthe uncurlers for the introduction of the fabric sections into theguide. A further advantage of this preferred spring arrangement is thatan equal pressure is applied automatically to each of the uncurlers.This is also important in that the amount of stretch of the two marginaledges of the stocking blank incident to their passage through the guideis equal, and this results in both' the'marginal edges of the stockingemerging from the uncurling guide simultaneously with-out one marginaledge being longer than the other. It should be understood that in theevent it is desirable to renew or replace the spring-wire 38 by astronger one, the change can be effected easily and quickly by simplygrasping the two ends of the spring-wire, spreading them apart and thenturning the spring-wire upwardly to permit the unthreading thereof outof the clearance hole 39.

To provide means whereby a uniform depth of'needle-bite in the fabricsections can be effectively obtained, the fabric-engaging plate 21 hassecured thereto an edge-guiding element. This edge-guiding element isshown in Fig. 4 and it comprises a pin 41 extending through the plate 21and having mounted on each end small collars 42 and 43. During theoperation of the uncurling guide the collars 42 and 43 enter clearanceapertures 44 and 45 in the uncurlers 28 and 29. In prior uncurlingguides the edge-guiding element was in the form of a screw, one collarbeing the head of the screw and the other collar being a nut'formed witha. screw-driver slot so that the nut could be tightened. With thisprevious construction it frequently happened that the marginal edge ofone of the fabric sections became snared on the threads of the screwbeyond the outside of the nut, resulting in a pulled stocking. Thepresent form of edge-guiding element eliminates this fault, inasmuch asthe ends of the pin 4|, after the collars 42 and 43 have been placedinposition, are flared or riveted and subsequently polished, thereby toprovide a smooth surface which cannot snare the edge of the fabricsection.

It will be understood from Figs. 1 and 5 that the two cross-bars 34 and35 are positioned as close to the head 2| of the central guiding plate22 as is possible. In other words, the pivot-studs 36 and 31 for theuncurlers 28 and 29 are disposed a considerable distance from the fabricuncurling portion of the guide. This is decidedly advantageous overprevious constructions, because when traversing fabric sections havingvarying thicknesses the degree of non-parallelism between the uncurlers28 and 29 and the opposed faces of the fabric-engaging plate 21 isgreatly reduced. It will be appreciated that the closer to the lower endof the guide the pivot-studs 36 and 31 are placed, the greater thedegree of nonparallelism existing between the fabric-engaging plate 21and the'uncurlers 28 and 29 when traversing a thickened section offabric. The raising of the pivot-studs to a point adjacent the head 2|of the central guiding plate 22 has a further advantage over previousconstructions in that it permits a construction which gives to theoperator better visibility in the vicinity of the stitching point.

From the above description it will be understood that I have provided anuncurling guide which is superior to prior constructions in the matterof controlling and directing the fabric sections, simplicity of design,ease of manufacture and assembly, and better visibility to the operator.

While I have illustrated and described one embodiment of the invention,it will be understood that the improvement is susceptible of variousmodifications within the scope of the invention.

Having thus set forth the nature of the invention, what I claim hereinis:

'1. An uncurling guide for sewing machines comprising, a central guidingplate having a head mounted so that'the uncurling guide may be shiftedinto and out of operative position, un curlers cooperating at theirlower ends with said central guiding plate for controllingand directingfabric sections preparatory to stitching, means carried by said centralguiding plate adjacent the head thereof for pivotally supporting theupper ends of said uncurlers on horizontal axes, and spring meansengaging each of said uncurlers intermediate its ends for maintainingsaid uncurlers in cooperative relation with said central guiding plate.

2. An uncurling guide for sewing machines comprising, a central guidingplate having a head mounted so that the uncurling guide may be' shiftedinto'and out of operative position, uncurlers having relatively longshanks cooperating at their lower ends 'with said-central guiding platefor controlling and directing fabric sections preparatory to stitching,at least one cross-bar secured to said central guiding plate directlybeneath the head thereof, pivot-studs threaded into said cross-bar andsupporting said uncurlers, and a spring-wire having its opposite ends infaces, uncurlers fulcrumed at their upper ends and, cooperating at theirlower ends with the fabric-engaging faces of said central guidingengagement with the uncurlers beneath the point .at their lower endswith said central guiding plate for controlling and directing fabricsections preparatory to stitching, at least one cross-bar secured tosaid central guiding plate directly beneath the head thereof,pivot-studs threaded into said cross-bar and supporting the upper endsof said uncurlers, and a U-shaped springwire extending through saidcentral guiding plate and having its free ends in engagement with theplate for controlling and directing fabric sections preparatory tostitching, and spring means located to engage said uncurlersintermediate their fulcrum points and lower ends for biasing saiduncurlers toward and into cooperative relation with said central guidingplate, said spring means applying automatically an equal pressure uponeach of said uncurlers.

7. An uncurling guide for sewing machines having an operative and aninoperative position, a central guiding plate having fabric-engagingfaces, uncurlers fulcrumed at their upper ends and cooperating at theirlower ends with the fabric-engaging faces of said central guiding platefor controlling and directing fabric sections preparatory to stitching,and a single spring connecting said uncurlers together intermediatetheir respective fulcrum point and lower end for biasing said uncurlerstoward and into cooperative relation with said central guiding plate.

8. A sewing machine uncurling guide having an operative and aninoperative position, a central guiding plate having a clearanceaperture therein and a plurality of fabric-engaging faces, uncurlersformed with relatively long shanks 'fulcrumed at one end upon saidcentral guiding plate, and a spring extending through said clearanceaperture in the central guiding plate and having its free ends each inengagement with one of the uncurlers between its fulcrumpoint and itsother end for biasing said uncurlers parallel fabric-engaging faces,uncurlers each uncurlers intermediate their ends for yieldingly biasingsaid uncurlers in cooperative relation with said central guiding plate.

4. An uncurling guide for sewing machines having an operative and aninoperative position,

a central guiding plate having fabric-engaging faces, uncurlersfulcrumed at their upper ends and cooperating at their lower ends withthe fabric-engaging faces of 1 said central guiding plate forcontrolling and directing fabric sections preparatory to stitching, andspring means located to engage said uncurlers intermediate their fulcrumpoints and lower ends for biasing said uncurlers toward and intocooperative relation with said central guiding plate.

5. An uncurling guide for sewing machines having an operative and aninoperative position,

a central guiding plate formed with fabricengaging faces, uncurlersprovided with relatively long shanks, said uncurlers fulcrumed at endswith the fabric-engaging faces of said central guiding plate forcontrolling and directing ,fabric sections preparatory to stitching, andspring means having limbs arranged in substantheir upper ends andcooperating at their lower fulcrumed at one end upon said centralguiding plate and at its other end cooperating with one of thefabric-engaging faces of said central guiding plate, said centralguiding plate having a clearance aperture therein above the fulcrum axesof the uncurlers, and a U-shaped spring extending through said clearanceaperture and having its free ends in engagement with the uncurlersintermediate their ends for yieldingly holding said uncurlers inoperative relation with said central guiding plate.

10. An uncurling guide for sewing machines having an operative and aninoperative position, a central guiding plate having fabric-engagingfaces, uncurlers fulcrumed at their upper ends and cooperating at theirlower ends with the fabric-engaging faces of said central guiding platefor controlling and directing fabric sections preparatory to stitching,spring means adapted to engage said uncurlers intermediate their fulcrumpoints and lower ends for biasing said uncurlers toward and intocooperative relation with said fabric-engaging faces, and an edgeguidingelement for engaging and directing the edges of the fabric sectionscontrolled by the uncurling guide, said edge-guiding element includingtwo collars mounted upon the opposite ends of a pin extending throughsaid central guiding plate and having its ends flared to retain saidcollars snugly against said central guiding plate.

HANS HACKLANDER.

